There, out in the darkness, a fugitive runningFallen from God, fallen from graceGod, be my witness; I never shall yield'Til we come face to face - until we come face to face - Inspector Javert, "Stars", Les Miserables

There have been quite a few Awakenings tonight. But not all Awakened are so new to the Mad City.

John Robertson is one that has been around for a short while. Long enough to know the basics of what it means to be Awake, of course. Long enough to know the basics of what the Mad City is. And more than enough to understand how bad an idea it is to draw the attention of the Nightmares. Even the Watch Men can be dangerous - and Officer Tock is possibly the most dangerous of them all.

At least, when he has a warrant for your arrest. And when it's drawing very, very close to the thirteenth hour.

John Robertson made a purchase recently. It was not a good one. He didn't think things through. The price has turned out to be higher than he's willing to pay - but the salesman in the Bazaar do not take kindly to people reneging on deals, particularly once they already have the product in hand.

And so John is Officer Tock's quarry for the evening. The Watch Men are out in force. All the regular exits from the Mad City are blocked off. And there's only half an hour until all the doors close for the night anyway. Chances of escape are looking grim - and Officer Tock isn't known for his leniency when it comes to enforcing the law of the Mad City to its very brutal letter.

Tonight, the object for John Robertson is survival. He needs - desperately needs - to find his way out of the City within the next half-hour, or else find a way to survive the Thirteenth Hour - the hour when Tock and his Watch are out in force, and all the doors in and out of the Mad City are closed.

To do either of those, he needs help. And so he's hiding in the crowds, a pad of paper and a pencil in one hand.

He has just finished writing "Help will arrive from an unexpected quarter."

Two people have just staggered out onto the street in front of him: one, a weeping teen clutching a crushed-looking hand, the other a young woman having just rushed out of a diner that was supposed to be closed. Both are obviously Awake. They're too present to be one of the Hollow Men, and too normal-looking to be Nightmares.

Help may just have arrived.

LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN? - Death, in Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man

Antoinette is glancing around for some indication of where she is--a street sign, a map, anything. She's probably still dressed in scrubs from the hospital....and somehow, not really sticking out all that much.

Lewis slowly gets back up again. "If this is real then there are monsters around and I need to find somewhere to hide and get medical attention for my hand" Begins walking then stops. "I have no idea where I can find either of those things. If I find a hospital it will probably be staffed with more monsters. I might not be able to trust anyone here."

I'm not crazy I just use a different definition of sanity...

The Forum Blunt Instrument. "Because sometimes the only way to get through to someone is with a sledgehammer."

Street signs? Maps? The street itself doesn't seem to make any sense; it zigzags crazily away in either direction, out of sight. In several locations it seems to split into multiple directions, and in at least one of these iterations it slopes sharply upward, towards the rooftops. If there's any sense to this city's design, it isn't visible - not that the chaos seems to disturb the crowds milling past. They just continue in their murmured conversations as if this were the most ordinary place in the world - and they certainly seem to know where they are and where they're going.

LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN? - Death, in Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man

"Uh. No." The woman screws up her face as if in concentration for a moment, then shakes her head. "Sorry. I'm just a bystander."

And then she begins walking again, as if nothing had happened.

"Did I hear you say you need a map, boss?" comes a voice from behind Lewis. As he turns, a scruffy-looking kid, no more than ten, with gleaming eyes and an even more brilliant smile steps out from an alleyway, a handful of pamphlets clutched in one hand. His face is covered in soot, and his clothes, while modern, aren't much better - and they're badly torn to boot.

"One map, just three pence," the kid says, waving the pamphlets. "Show you how to get anywhere in the dinin' quarter, an' that's a fact."

LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN? - Death, in Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man

Antoinette takes a moment, steps out of the flow of foot-traffic, closes her eyes, and begins massaging her temples. She's not really sure what's going on--she doesn't really know if she's awake or not at this point, and wouldn't be surprised to find out she was strapped to a table somewhere.

You guys can move this forward at your own pace; I just do the NPCs right now. I would prefer to slow down for Proxie, however.

The street urchin appears to spot Antoinette out of the corner of his eye as she starts to massage her temples, and waves the stack of pamphlets at her. "Care for a map, lady?" he calls. "Only three pence! Maybe your headaches would go away if you knew where you were goin', right?"

LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN? - Death, in Terry Pratchett's Reaper Man

Lewis looks at the small urchin and begins searching his pockets for any cash. He grumbles at the awkwardness of checking his pockets with one hand but stops as the urchin turns his attention to someone else. Lewis turns his attention to the other as well.

I'm not crazy I just use a different definition of sanity...

The Forum Blunt Instrument. "Because sometimes the only way to get through to someone is with a sledgehammer."

Approaching the two people and the hollow urchin John snickers at the apparent pun his madness talent had brought. An "unexpected quarter" indeed.

He addresses the urchin first. "How about a map to the nearest door out of the City kid? You have any of those? It would be . . . prudent . . . if me and these two newcomers got out of here before the clock strikes 13."

Turning to the other two he tells them "If the kid can't help us maybe you know how to get back to the doors you came through? You really don't want to be stuck here when the clock strikes. Wish I could say we'd never have to come back, but I doubt it."